Tracking presumed GOP presidential candidates as race heats up

Prospective Republican presidential candidates are hitting the ground running Monday, for better or for worse.

Jeb BushFormer Florida Governor Jeb Bush reportedly self-identified as Hispanic on a 2009 voter-registration form. As the New YorkTimes’ blog points out: "He speaks fluent Spanish. His wife, Columba Bush, was born in Mexico. For two years in his 20s, he lived in Venezuela, immersing himself in the country’s culture." However, Bush’s spokespeople did not answer why he checked the Hispanic box in the past.

The former governor, meanwhile, addressed the situation on Twitter Monday morning – from New Jersey, according to the tweet – in which he seems to be attempting to make light of stuation by calling it a mistake.

The Times isn’t convinced the registration will have any impact on his clout with Hispanic voters. Back in 2012, the Times reported that questions around whether then-Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren was any part American Indian did not affect voters’ opinions.

Twitter wasn’t going to let him off easy, though. The newly created handled @MexicanJeb has been tweeting since this morning, and other critics have been using it against him.

Rand PaulMeanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) appears to be on the precipice of officially announcing his candidacy for the White House – in other words, he’s pretty much all but said, "I’m running for president." On Monday morning, he tweeted a video teasing that "a different kind of Republican will take on Washington" as of Tuesday.

Take note: new official 2016 campaign account will be here at @RandPaul

Chris ChristieOne more candidate update: Chris Christie could also be gearing up for an official announcement as he heads to New Hampshire next week, according to the Huffington Post, which notes this could be the former frontrunner’s chance to ease back into voters’ good graces.

The Washington Postcast a dark cloud over the noted Cowboy fan’s chances at taking the White House on Friday (professional football allegiances aside) with grim early numbers. The outlet posted that 39% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said in the most recent Pew national poll there is ‘"no chance" they would vote for the New Jersey governor in a presidential primary.